#pawi

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(All pictures are from here)

Everyone, meet the pawi

Also known as the Trinidad Piping guan, or Pipile pipile, this bird is a member of the chachalaca, guan and curassow family, meaning that it's closely related to one of two national birds; the Rufous vented chachalaca, or cocrico.

These guys are found in the northern parts of Trinidad, and is endemic to Trinidad, meaning that they're only found there. They are a turkey like birds, mainly black with white wing patches and light blue head, with a bright blue dewlap and red feet. They're pretty large, having a wingspan of 60 cm and a body length of 60 cm too.

They're found in forests, and unlike what you probably assumed, they live in trees; rarely touching the ground. They make whistling noises too, and their wings make a "whirring" sound! They eat berries, flowers, leaves and fruits. Their nests are made in trees. They also lay three white eggs, which are pretty large. Only the female birds incubate the eggs.

Sadly, they are critically endangered, with some estimates states that there might be only 70 to 200 birds in the wild. This is mainly due to illegal hunting, and to aid lesser extent, Habitat loss.

Sources under the cut

this handsome critter is the critically endangered Trinidad piping guan. endemic to the island of Trinidad in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which lies off the northeast coast of Venezuela and is the southernmost island in the Caribbean. on the island itself, this bird is known as the pawi. it's rather large for an arboreal bird, at about 60 cm (or 2 ft) from tail to beak. spends most of its time in the canopy of mountain rainforests. they bear little to no sexual dimorphism, with males and females both having glamorous blue wattles and black-and-white crests. immature birds hatch precocially and are a more uniform brown.

due to overhunting, its range has been heavily restricted to the far northeast of its home island; formerly, it was very widespread, its range spanning every bit of damp forest to be had on the island regardless of elevation. they travel in small groups, foraging for fruit, flowers, and leaves. individuals have been observed feeding each other, even if the individual being fed could easily reach the food themselves. rather than visiting bodies of water on the ground, they prefer to drink from pools of water caught in bromeliads. these folks seem largely unbothered by human presence, ignoring tourists, farmers, and the like unless directly disturbed. this nonchalance was more than likely a contributing factor to their vulnerability to extreme overhunting.

6 June 2026